What Is a Sacred Black Space—and What Isn't?
Defining Sacred Black Spaces
Sacred Black spaces are environments that hold cultural, historical, and spiritual significance within Black communities. These spaces foster emotional freedom, collective identity, and serve as sanctuaries of resilience and empowerment. Examples include HBCUs, historical Black cemeteries, Black neighborhoods, churches, cultural centers like the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), and streets of protest such as those significant to the Civil Rights Movement like the Edmond Pettus Bridge.
These spaces share key characteristics: they emphasize communal engagement, adaptive reuse, and symbolic ornamentation rooted in cultural identity. HBCUs, for example, have served as both educational institutions and cultural sanctuaries for the Black community, while the NMAAHC incorporates African design motifs and narrative storytelling through its architecture.
UVa Main Campus - Courtesy Google Images
What Isn’t a Sacred Black Space and Failures in Design
Conversely, spaces that have failed the Black community often neglect cultural expression, emotional significance, and long-term community benefits. Examples include:
Monticello: Though historically significant, it architecturally suppressed and dehumanized the enslaved indivudals who were forced to inhabit it. The architectural language become even more concerning as you begin to observe the characteristics of the University of Virginia (UVa) not to mention that the enslaved built both Monticello and UVa.
Pruitt-Igoe Housing Project: This public housing complex, despite its initial intentions, became a symbol of architectural failure due to poor design choices, lack of communal spaces, and structural neglect, ultimately leading to its demolition. This architectural failure, however, was born out of the modernist movement by Mies Van Der Rohe. Exploring whether that architectural style is even expressed in black architecture or spaces will be important.
Cabrini-Green Housing Complex: This Chicago housing project suffered from severe neglect and disinvestment, leading to unsafe living conditions, crime, and eventual demolition, failing to create a supportive environment for its residents.
Rikers Island Jail Complex: Designed as a facility for incarceration, it lacks any element of healing, community support, or cultural sensitivity, emphasizing punitive measures over rehabilitation or support for marginalized populations and reinstitutes the remanence of slavery as indentured servitude.
Fort Reno Park Center - HU Dept. of Arch.
The Importance of This Research:
This research is crucial not only for preserving cultural heritage but also for promoting generational wealth. According to the Federal Reserve's 2019 Survey of Consumer Finances, the median wealth for white families is $188,200 compared to $24,100 for Black families, illustrating a significant disparity. This gap can be partially addressed through architecture and design that fosters long-term stability and investment in Black communities. I often say, 'Spaces and buildings are the medicine that architects provide to the public.' This perspective underscores the healing potential of architecture, as well-designed spaces can positively influence mental health, promote cultural pride, and provide environments that nurture emotional well-being. Through intentional design, architecture can serve as a reparative tool, addressing past injustices and helping communities thrive. Spaces that fail the Black community often do so because they lack:
Communal Design: Absence of spaces for shared experiences and interaction.
Cultural Symbolism: Little to no representation of Black heritage in design.
Long-Term Investment: Poorly maintained and underfunded, leading to systemic disrepair.
Conclusion and Future Case Studies: Understanding the qualities that define sacred Black spaces helps identify architectural successes and failures within Black communities. Moving forward, my research will explore case studies analyzing both successful sacred Black spaces and those that have failed, identifying key elements that can inform future culturally-responsive design practices. This will eventually help me to do as I explained, provide a framework that leads to practitioners, especially activist practitioners, to ask more questions within their design ethics and process.